Calgary Olympic bid still lacks feds’, province’s confirmed support

CALGARY—Weeks before a crucial city council vote on the future of Calgary’s Olympic bid, the federal and provincial governments won’t publicly give a timeline for when they’ll offer cost-sharing information.

City council’s “off-ramp” vote will likely take place on Sept. 10 without information about how much of the cost burden Calgary will bear if the city bids for and wins the 2026 Winter Games. If council elects to continue with the bid, a plebiscite will be held Nov. 13.

In 2017, the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee said an Olympic bid would cost $4.6 billion, but city council has heard that that estimate is likely low. (GREG BAKER / AFP/Getty Images)

But it’s unclear how much time Calgarians will have to look at the financial picture once the other levels of government decide how much they’re willing to chip in. Ward 8 councillor Evan Woolley, chair of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Assessment Committee, said he hopes to see the information “as soon as possible,” but a specific date is still not available.

Ann Marie Paquet, a spokesperson for federal Minister of Science and Sport Kirsty Duncan, said in a statement that the government supports Calgary’s further exploration of a bid for the 2026 Winter Games. But she did not answer questions about when cost-sharing information would be confirmed.

She said Canadian communities hosting international sport competitions can bring “benefits” across the country. “However, we respect the voters of Calgary and we look forward to the results of the plebiscite,” she added.

Some basic information is available about how much the federal government may contribute to the Games: the Federal Policy for Hosting International Sport Events limits their contribution to up to 35 per cent of the core costs related to the Olympics and up to 50 per cent of the total public sector contribution to the event.

A statement from Marion Nader, a spokesperson for Alberta Minister of Culture and Tourism Ricardo Miranda, said that the province will “continue to explore what is feasible given Alberta’s recovering economy and other competing priorities like health care, education and infrastructure.”

As of Friday evening, the province had not given a date for when they will discuss the share of the Olympic cost they will cover. Nader said they are committed to working with the other levels of government “to ensure that any possible Olympic bid makes sense for Alberta.

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“We know that projects like the Olympic and Paralympic games can bring a considerable amount of economic benefit to host cities, but we also know that there is significant financial impact that goes along with these bids,” she said.

Concordia University economist Moshe Lander, who specializes in the economics of sports, said he doesn’t think the provincial government has much incentive to make cost-sharing numbers public before the results of Calgary’s plebiscite.

Lander opposes Calgary hosting the Olympics in 2026 because he says bringing the Games to Calgary is a bad economic decision. Part of the problem of getting more of the financial information, he said, is that the province might be wary of making funding commitments so close to a provincial election.

“Whoever is in power eight years from now, they can either cancel that obligation or take the NDP as being a bunch of spendthrifts, throwing money at Olympics instead of supporting priorities like health care,” he said.

Even if detailed financial information is available by the time Calgarians vote on whether or not they’re in favour of hosting in 2026, Lander said it’s a difficult question to ask voters to meaningfully engage.

“Fundamentally, you are talking about a multi-billion-dollar project that’s eight years out with a world that could look radically different,” he said. “The taxpayer can’t assess that even if they had the numbers. We’re not trained for those sorts of things.”

In 2017, the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee said an Olympic bid would cost $4.6 billion, but city council has heard that that estimate is likely low. The International Olympic Committee has committed $925 million (U.S.) to the successful 2026 host city.

The Calgary Olympic Bid Corporation, which was jointly created by all three levels of government in March, is scheduled to present its hosting plan, including budget information, ahead of the off-ramp vote.

Madeline Smith is a reporter/photographer with StarMetro Calgary. Follow her on Twitter: @meksmith